|
Let's talk solo games. I pushed a bit for someone else to make this because I have no successful experience with the design style/genre, but it also happens that I have a lot of these in my library from all the failed attempts, so... let's go. For those who have never seen them: remember CYOA books? You're in the right ballpark. Instead of a GM and players, it's just you and the dice, and usually an "oracle" to interpret the dice and fill in the gaps where you'd normally have other people's input. There are systems for converting existing games for solo play, and there are systems designed for solo from the ground up (the latter almost universally work better, at least according to popular sentiment). Solo games have had a boom recently with new entries getting created and put up for sale all the time, but a few names that stand out of the crowd:
edit: The following are some more suggestions that have been put out - I'll work on a more updated OP eventually. I haven't been doing much in the solo genre so I don't have much more insight to give.
Have any experience with solo RPGs? Play reports, maybe even games of your own? I'm interested in folks' insights, it's a neat design space. SkyeAuroline fucked around with this message at 22:13 on Apr 7, 2024 |
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 21:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 23:13 |
|
|
I've never played a traditional solo game before, but I have read through CYOA books and I do own Ironsworn. However, I have played some solo type games before. The only one I really have experience with is How to Host A Dungeon, which is a generative game that creates a side view dungeon and its history. I'm not sure if this is the version I played: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/299497/How-to-Host-a-Dungeon-2nd-Edition I suppose HtHAD would be considered a journaling-type game. Fighting Fantasy, of which went off into a separate fork from the "Choose your own adventure" brand, has its own RPG system now, TROIKA: https://www.troikarpg.com/ - not sure if it includes solo play details though. When I have played solo games it is mostly a board game on Tabletop Simulator or VASSAL, of which the most I've played is the Mage Knight Board Game. I do own it in person but it's crazy to set up for a solo game and I live in a shared space, so I usually don't have the table space to set something up for an unlimited amount of time. Generally speaking, I think the appeal of solo RPGs specifically must be the same kind of thing as the old CYOA books. People may not necessarily want to socially engage or want to do something on their own time away from electronics, so something that allows for some meditative escapism and thinking through the eyes of a character with random chance involved via the oracles mentioned in the OP can be potentially exciting. The main thing that solo RPGs have is that there is a unique experience playing a solitaire type game. Some, like How to Host A Dungeon, generate a finished product when you're at the end of it that you can go on to use in another game (see also: The Quiet Year, which I think can be played solo?). Because you don't need to interact with other people, the information in your head and the way you communicate with yourself is generally perfect, and the uncertainty lies within the oracles in the game itself to keep things just spicy enough. Also, because you don't involve other people, logistically a solo game makes a lot of sense. You play at your own pace anywhere that you have access to your materials. There doesn't need to be a dedicated space and time for it (though there could be), so you could play while in bed, at a vacation spot, in a power outage, while you're sick, if it's 3 in the morning and everybody's asleep, for five minutes at a time if that's all you have. I'm not really clear on how or where people really generate and share play reports other than in Let's Play or here in TG - I know that there was a long series of Let's Play posts regarding Sommerlund and the Kai, which I believe is related to the Lone Wolf series of CYOA books. I don't know if that's still stored anywhere or buried in the archives though. I would view the act of playing a solo game and sharing it to be two discrete activities - you can abandon a solo game at any time and nobody save the player will feel anything regarding it unless you were sharing updates on a regular basis. You could start an infinite amount of these games as well without worrying too much about the content. I would also say from a design side there are challenges in keeping the game replayable or driving enough to warrant continued play. CYOA books have a finite interpretation set so you need to keep playing them in a serial sense, but technically nothing stops you from just skipping all the way to the end or changing what your outcomes are either. There might be some fun in doing so, or maybe there is a certain sense of duty to stay bound to the rules framework. In either case, since there are finite options, there ought be enough options to suit the player base from the designer side. If I was going to design something in this space I'd probably do something that has very basic prompts and allows for branching through randomness and use it as more of a story/ideas engine than a game to level up and get powerful in. I don't particularly care too much about the leveling treadmill in video game RPGs or even Mage Knight these days but I'd probably go back and play another round of How to Host A Dungeon again since I know that I'd get some interesting results to continue to use afterwards. Games that generate artifacts as part of their play are neat, solo or no.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 22:21
|
|
|
Ironsworn is pretty fantastic and I'm really looking forward to the Sci-Fi version coming out later this year. I'm in the playtest discord for it and it makes some nice changes that will probably get backported to Ironsworn (by players if not by Shawn himself). As someone who has never managed to score a regular RPG group, I'm kinda happy and excited to see Solo RPGs start to become a more common/recognized thing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 23:00
|
|
|
I recently played Artefact by Jack Harrison, after hearing about it on the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast. It's a lovely game, though it doesn't really include any random elements - just your own thoughts. You play as a maybe-sentient 'item' - a weapon, a shield, some boots, a golem, whatever you can think of - and describe what happens to you and who are the people that carry you throughout the ages. I really enjoyed playing. I haven't played any other recent Solo RPG, so I don't have a great comparison point, but this felt in some ways less like a game and more like a series of interesting creative prompts. It gives just enough choice to feel extremely flexible, but is also narrow enough that you don't like the game asks you to just make everything up on your own. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in playing a solo game, and also to anyone who likes writing as a creative pursuit. I felt like I had an actual story on my hands at the end of it, and I'm even going to include the Artifact that I came up with in my D&D campaign. I'm also excited to try other games in the genre - I think it's been sorely lacking, and as a huge fan of old single-player adventure video games, this kicks up some powerful nostalgia for me.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 23:13
|
|
|
I haven't played Artefact myself but I've heard good things. The author is also doing a sci-fi one called "Bucket of Bolts" where instead of being a magic item, you're a smalish ship going through a series of owners. Basically "Millenium Falcon the RPG". Its got a bit less that 48 hours left on its kickstarter.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 23:31
|
|
|
Galaga Galaxian posted:Ironsworn is pretty fantastic and I'm really looking forward to the Sci-Fi version coming out later this year. I'm in the playtest discord for it and it makes some nice changes that will probably get backported to Ironsworn (by players if not by Shawn himself). I'm similarly hopeful for it to turn out well. I've had several abject failures trying to make Ironsworn itself work and I'm hoping scifi will at least make the setting side marginally easier. Didn't want to stick it in the OP amid the resources, but... yeah, I've had a lot of failures and no successes with solo play so far.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 05:59
|
|
|
I really enjoyed Kestral's AP of Ironsworn here if you want to see the system in action a bit: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3928109
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 07:32
|
|
|
 I know Frostgrave has solo campaign books that mysteriously got very popular last year for I'm sure is not some common world wide explanation. Fantasy based skirmish where you as a spellcaster lead a party of adventures into ruins to find loot an d kill things. I have not played it, but I'm hoping to hear from someone who has.  PROGRAMMED WARGAME SCENARIOS FOR SOLO & MULTIPLAYER GAMES: 2nd edition by Charles Grant. A solo wargame CYOA. I have it, but need to finish my army before I can use it. it gives 18 scenarios and 2 campaigns where a RED and BLUE force face off. There are suggested army lists for Ancient, Black Powder and Modern armies. You pick a side and then read the CYOA text block for what happens. It gives rules for random or hidden (where you don't know the terrain when you pick your army) maps and army lists and the "AI" acts on dice rolls or what the player does. You can in theory act as the umpire and watch the AI sort of play itself. I think this is going to work best to give me a basis to write my own battle reports, but also try out different army lists (which I'll need to modify to have a FOGN army).
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 08:46
|
|
|
Ironsworn is super cool. I did a bit of playtesting for Star Scarlet Heroes was mentioned in the OP and its link to Stars Without Number in terms of mechanics, but it's worth noting that Stars Without Number (Revised) itself comes with solo support directly in the core rulebook ("Heroic Mode" or something like that, iirc). I haven't tried it, but it's been on my list for some time. It's worth noting that solo RP is way different in terms of feel than actual tabletop roleplaying, and I think a lot of people confused by the genre don't really grok that. It's far less about engaging with a game and its systems for me and more about providing me with something I like to think of as "structured daydreaming." Your mind crafts the story within the confines of the world/character you have set up, and rolls are made and crunch introduced based on need. Some systems work better and worse for it (I can't imagine doing something like 5e solo, but apparently a poo poo ton of people try to make it a thing), but in the end it's mostly up to the player to determine how much or how little the system actually impacts their little structured daydream. In terms of what I've been playing: right now I've got a really slow-burning Google Drive project set up where I'm running through the old Star Wars d20 Living Force campaign, converted to FFG Star Wars rules. It's definitely a different experience to something like an Ironsworn or a Scarlet Heroes, as I'm "playing" an entire small party of 4 characters instead of just one. Kinda neat though and fun to gently caress around with every now and then, but nowhere near as engaging or intuitive as Ironsworn. Comstar posted:
This looks really neat! Definitely post your experience with it... it sounds like something I'd be interested in. In general as far as wargames go, I know Advanced Squad Leader has solitaire rules, but I don't know how decent they are. Drone fucked around with this message at 08:58 on Feb 15, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 08:54
|
|
|
The 'Alone against the...' series for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu are really good, I used the starter set one to teach me the full ruleset and had a great time with it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 12:02
|
|
|
Just in case anyone wants to score 87 solo RPGs of variable quality for the outlandishly low price of tenbux, the Solo But Not Alone bundle is currently live on itch.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 12:20
|
|
|
Drone posted:It's worth noting that solo RP is way different in terms of feel than actual tabletop roleplaying, and I think a lot of people confused by the genre don't really grok that. It's far less about engaging with a game and its systems for me and more about providing me with something I like to think of as "structured daydreaming." Your mind crafts the story within the confines of the world/character you have set up, and rolls are made and crunch introduced based on need. Some systems work better and worse for it (I can't imagine doing something like 5e solo, but apparently a poo poo ton of people try to make it a thing), but in the end it's mostly up to the player to determine how much or how little the system actually impacts their little structured daydream. This is almost certainly where the disconnect comes in for me, too. Most of the appeal RPGs have in the first place is the social element, but much left to carry games with just my own brain in isolation.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 14:44
|
|
|
Yeah, think of solo RPGs as almost a writing exercise, even. A lot of people do the "write a diary entry in-character" thing (which I was also intro'd to by the pretty cool Traveller solo game Log of the Grayswandir a few years ago). A lot of people will keep a notebook and actually write out their stories as they happen, jotting down their ideas and events that happen in the inner monologue, and actually writing out things like scenes and dialogue as if they were writing a short story. Some people draw a lot. Some people worldbuild. I mainly just bullet-point my adventures in a Google Doc, and this works well. For scenes that are more interesting, I try to bullet-point them when I actually "play" them through and then later spruce them up a bit and write them out in actual prose. Here is an example of the very first encounter in that Star Wars solo game I'm attempting... not to provide you with any idea of quality or anything like that, but just to give you a clue as to how an actual "play session" looks when I do it. Note: there are substantially less rolls involved in that log because I'm playing from a prewritten adventure... if I were doing this in something like Ironsworn, there would be a lot more rolling involved as I leave things like scene generation partially up to that game's oracle. Likewise there is a lot more pre-baked setting detail because it's Star Wars, and because it's playing through a module. There are many ways to enjoy solo RPG's tough and the beauty of it is that you can enjoy it the way that comes most intuitively to you. Since you're on your own, you don't have to worry about things like catering to anyone else's playstyles or whims in the game. Drone fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Feb 15, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 15:10
|
|
|
I really enjoyed Thousand Year Old Vampire when I played it. I got to the point where my character had been an ancient Gallic Warrior, been driven off, become a priest, lost a fortune, run to ground and disputed with God before pulling her own face off and becoming lord of a lonely castle near where she used to live but with no memory of ever living there. It was really cool and generated a character I want to use in something but felt kind of complete on her own for people to fight against/ serve as an antagonist.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 15:29
|
|
|
Drone posted:Yeah, think of solo RPGs as almost a writing exercise, even. Log of the Grayswandir is neat for sure. But yeah, I think that's the ultimate disconnect - though I included them in the OP I don't really consider journaling games "games", they're just packs of writing exercises with a usually haphazard connection between prompts. They are, however, what I've had the most success on so far; I got 6 or 7 draws in on a Wretched run before I quit, partly because the prompts started running in direct opposition to what I'd already written and partly because it just wasn't interesting. My scifi experience is a lot more thorough than my fantasy experience, part of why I'm hoping Starforged turns out well since maybe deep familiarity is what I need to make it work. Just couldn't even get it started at all.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 16:06
|
|
|
I'd never heard of this kind of solo-playing RPG, but having just tinkered around a little with Ironsworn I'd definitely say it's more of a creative writing exercise or 'structured daydreaming' than it is the typical RPG experience. My go-to recommendation for people that want that old RPG crunchy rules feeling is the board game mage night. It's a great solo play and presents a really complex puzzle to solve. Engaging with the rules and systems fills my need for tabletop goodness when I can't be around with friends. Since so many of our D&D games just end up being combat-monster encounters in published modules, Mage Knight fills my need there. I feel like Ironsworn fills a need to be creative reasonably well and provides one with a number of good prompts. In my brief ~90 minute session today at least two scenes came up where I felt the emotion could be unpacked enough to write a little story, and I got inspiration for a couple of scenes that would be fun to paint. I just wish one of these activities filled the need for person-to-person role playing. The only way I'm going to scratch that itch during COVID is on a Warcraft RP server or something.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 22:11
|
|
|
I use solo games quite a lot both to amuse myself and to try out systems before I run them for other people. It's a good way to try games or explore plots that you won't get to the table. My preferred Oracle system is Mythic with the new V2 oracle; I find its scenes and interrupts methodology works pretty well. I also sometimes use it as a Character emulator rather than a GM one - there's a game I started here (not finished due to a massive bout of depression  ) https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/mythic-0d-d-b1-9-in-search-of-adventure.537852/I have a (sadly neglected atm) blog with my solo games at https://moggynomates.angrymog.com/ There's a really good Pendragon solo (it still gets updated from time to time even though it started in 2011) here at RPG.net https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/pendragon-gpc-mythic-annales-milites-de-sarisburiensis.560128/
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 22:16
|
|
|
Gameko posted:I'd never heard of this kind of solo-playing RPG, but having just tinkered around a little with Ironsworn I'd definitely say it's more of a creative writing exercise or 'structured daydreaming' than it is the typical RPG experience. Depends how you go about it; sometimes yes, but I feel the mechanics add a layer of unpredictability and makes you react to things that you wouldn't have written without the mechanics, and a lot of write ups include the mechanics - both the host systems and the oracle so people can see how things are put together. Alex Yari from various solo things has a thing about 'Non-authored solo' where you use generators for every detail rather than filling things in to patch together a narrative.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 22:25
|
|
|
SkyeAuroline posted:Log of the Grayswandir is neat for sure. That haphazard connection has killed a few solo games for me as well. I think if I ever design another one I'll do so using something like Fallen London's 'token' system, which offers a minimal-bookkeeping way of recording how the player has acted and what has happened thus far, reducing the likelihood that you'll get really left-field poo poo. ...the more I think about it the more I do want to design another one, just to put this kind of thing into practice.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 01:33
|
|
|
I guess the question I'd have is, what do you want to see out of a solo game versus a game you play with others? The componentry tends to clue in on the type of game you'll end up with. In terms of oracles, the parent component is "randomized discovery", so the solo player doesn't necessarily know what is going to happen, though perhaps they can make preparations. "High availability" does not seem to factor into solo game components very much and happens more as a consequence of what games people play solo. Games which prominently feature the player improvising and writing things down rather than resolving tasks seem to be what is being referred to as "journaling games", correct? As in, you are really just committing to a randomized writing prompt with the "randomized discovery" portion missing as well as a lack of "task resolution". Something like that? That is, if the majority of what you do in a solo RPG is writing to prompts with minimal dice rolling and what not, then it is a journaling game. That would make How to Host A Dungeon a visual journaling game, as would the Quiet Year, perhaps. I'm curious for the purposes of this thread since part of firming up things to design for this specific category that isn't just another solo boardgame like Mage Knight feels important to define. Maybe "solo RPG" is just another phrase that does not have a well-defined space like how calling everything created by "artisan" be it bread, a chair, salad fork, sharpening a penicl, whatever no longer has any real meaning. That might also clue in what SkyeAuroline's looking for, which is "a solo RPG that features randomized discovery, task resolution, a sense of cohesion and continuity...and Stuff"?
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 01:47
|
|
|
aldantefax posted:Games which prominently feature the player improvising and writing things down rather than resolving tasks seem to be what is being referred to as "journaling games", correct? As in, you are really just committing to a randomized writing prompt with the "randomized discovery" portion missing as well as a lack of "task resolution". Something like that? That is, if the majority of what you do in a solo RPG is writing to prompts with minimal dice rolling and what not, then it is a journaling game. That would make How to Host A Dungeon a visual journaling game, as would the Quiet Year, perhaps. Yeah, while I don't have How to Host a Dungeon to use for comparison, The Quiet Year is structurally very similar to solo journaling games, if not the same thing. It's a good springboard to reach the definition at least. And your definition is pretty solid. quote:I'm curious for the purposes of this thread since part of firming up things to design for this specific category that isn't just another solo boardgame like Mage Knight feels important to define. Maybe "solo RPG" is just another phrase that does not have a well-defined space like how calling everything created by "artisan" be it bread, a chair, salad fork, sharpening a penicl, whatever no longer has any real meaning. I don't think "solo RPG" has lost its definition entirely (or failed to get one in the first place) - I'd put it more in the same arena as "PbtA" where you have a vague idea of what you're getting going in, and it's at least a functional category for grouping games, but it doesn't meaningfully narrow much down.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 06:12
|
|
|
I don't think it's impossible. However, if your concern is to model interactions with "the group", there ought be a delineation between the "in character" and "out of character" group. You could absolutely have a solo RPG where you are attempting to go through it and it is being influenced through the mechanics on a meta level and a narrative level. An example would be, your character is your classic party leader, and must cat herd a player type who is somewhat distracted all the time, but their character is a powerful wazzard. Perhaps there can be something there where you get mad at the player and try to smooth that out, which means you're managing meta social relationships out of the game as well as inside of the game? I don't think it's necessarily bad to start up an OP without an idea of where you're going FWIW, this is an interesting headspace to be in, as mentioned. I think it's a good way to get the ball rolling in what this kind of thing might look like. Are there any solo RPGs which deal more with interpersonal relationships than they do with procedural task resolution? I imagine that context switching might cause this to get somewhat rough but looking to board games for inspiration as well as more narrative forward story games are good beds for inspiration on these kinds of topics. Then again, if the idea is "find a cool game for SkyeAuroline or others to play by themselves", finding out what those games might look like would be very helpful indeed. It's very likely, based on the sense that I get, this kind of game does not exist yet. I think for me a solo RPG would have to be something that has the following components: - Randomized challenges that follow a cohesive arc of some sort - Interpersonal, dramatic decisions, as well as procedural challenges to put a character to the test - An evolving artifact which charts the journey of the player, physical or digital (map, journal, drawings, whatever) - Unexpected outcomes based on procedural generation that follow the fiction I envision something like a classic journey with something at stake that is a mix of material and conceptual, similar to the journey of the Ringbearer in Lord of the Rings. While that journey has a material goal (throw a piece of jewelry into a thing to prevent a big existential threat) it also has the subtext of the journey and loss of innocence and never truly being able to return to the way things were before. In that story, you could model the journey, the interactions and choices, as well as the betrayals and procedural stuff. I'd totally want to have something like some kind of mental state matrix that influences the way you want things to go and the way you say them, but represents a certain loss of control that leads to more interesting situations. With something like this you can do resource management (material and conceptual resources, like 'food', but also 'fear' or 'innocence') with some kind of objective in mind. Maybe the objective itself is actually optional - perhaps something about a journey of a retired hero who goes out to explore the world for one last ride. Along the way, they meet people, save some people, don't save other people, and fail to save even more people for a melancholy progression until they're ready to lay down their blade and armor for the final time. Task and procedural mechanics could be adapted from almost any system that throws dice. The resource management portion I think ought to be pulled from a boardgame or some such, and provide details on the variety which one encounters in this kind of game. There was a discussion elsewhere of cards being used as play aids - cards which represent the direction a narrative is taking or a meta-narrative is modifying could be particularly interesting here. There would then need to be at least three major components to help with this: - Player character sheet of some kind that has resources which can fluctuate and determine player agency - Dramatic deck of people with a similar kind of layered matrix, though they might be hidden and randomized in some way - Procedural deck of challenges big and small that fit the specific theme you're going for I wonder if maybe instead of a solo RPG you actually could do a "journal-exchanging" RPG in this way. One person structures the narrative for the other, and every game turn, they exchange their resolution notes but they are 'playing' the GM for the other using a framework noted above? I dunno, threads are for ideas that may or may not have sea legs, so maybe that's one of them!
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 08:14
|
|
|
A lot of the happenings in the Pendragon game I linked are derived from how the characters interact with each other due to their Traits and Passions
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 08:17
|
|
|
aldantefax posted:Are there any solo RPGs which deal more with interpersonal relationships than they do with procedural task resolution? Ironsworn can do this easily with its Bonds system (and also by swearing Vows to people and your relationship to them rather than "go to the mountain and kill the dragon" style quest vows), but it doesn't really meet the player halfway by underlining that terribly explicitly in the rules. The book itself mentions that this is a good use of a Bond/Vow a few times, but it's mostly glossed over in an effort to underscore what else Bonds could be (an attachment to a place/thing/organization, etc.) It's good when used but the player often forgets to use the mechanics in that way, so it's probably not the best example of a solo RPG that deals with interpersonal stuff. It's there, it works, but it's not the default focus unless the player has the initiative to make it so. But back to the overall topic of solo RPGs: I'm legit not sure that "play" is even the right verb to use when running through a solo RPG session. I mean sure, you are playing in the sense that you are using your imagination and having fun, but you aren't really doing a whole lot of playing in the sense of a game. The goals, rewards, restrictions, and (to an extent) even the rules are all self-imposed. I legit don't know what word one should use, but I think saying that you "play" a solo RPG kinda creates a false expectation of what a solo RPG is/should be, and I think that expectation is where a lot of people get lost on the genre. Drone fucked around with this message at 08:26 on Feb 16, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 08:23
|
|
|
Ooh, semantical usage of the word "play". Well, I mean play in a broader game context is just being able to experiment and do something for a recreational thing, so if we treat "play" in a very stringent way which is "the interaction for mostly fun of a group of systems which may or may not have a physical component but always has one or more conceptual components" then yeah, Raph Koster it up with A Theory of Fun. I think if you're intending for a solo RPG to be a thing which emulates a multiplayer RPG, the important thing is to figure out how to provide an appropriate surrogate for the other players, and to look at the things which work well in board games, video games, and elsewhere to help clue into it. I would call How to Host A Dungeon great fun but it does mostly just follow die result after die result and there is no character sheet. Perhaps you need a book of oracles sufficiently large, like in Tales of Arabian Nights, which present all manner of odd challenges that can have different outcomes based on the character you're playing. Then again, it all rolls back up to who is defining what a solo RPG is, since if it's not a board game, but it's more something something than just a journaling thing, then what's that space supposed to look like, or what would make it interesting to look like?
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 08:32
|
|
|
aldantefax posted:I think if you're intending for a solo RPG to be a thing which emulates a multiplayer RPG Then again, it all rolls back up to who is defining what a solo RPG is This is really the core of the question for me, and is probably the single biggest source of confusion for people who are new to the idea of solo RPG's and don't quite "get it." It's kinda difficult to define just what a solo RPG is, but I do know that, for me... aldantefax posted:I think if you're intending for a solo RPG to be a thing which emulates a multiplayer RPG ...this is not it. They're two different beasts, and a solo RPG can never fill the same niche as a multiplayer RPG. I guess my haphazard argument is that solo RPG's should be considered completely separate experiences, and that people who are looking to replace multiplayer gaming (for whatever reason) with a solo RPG would be better off playing Minesweeper for as dissimilar as the two styles of play are.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 09:23
|
|
|
I would say that I definately do play solo RPGs in that I interact with the rules of the system, and make decisions based on both those rules and the information provided by the oracles. In the Ultra Violet Grasslands I've just started I'm using more of a GM stance with the oracle directing the character, but it's very definitely a game first, a creative writing exercise second. People playing the "But is it even a game? Is it Roleplaying?" really ought to look up some write ups of sessions - I've posted some of mine (and a really good Pendragon one), and can go hunt down some other links.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 10:10
|
|
|
aldantefax posted:Are there any solo RPGs which deal more with interpersonal relationships than they do with procedural task resolution? I imagine there are loads. The One is entirely about relationships, for example, and I'm pretty certain some (most?) of the solo lyric games focus on personal relationships rather than doing stuff.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 11:28
|
|
|
potatocubed posted:I imagine there are loads. The One is entirely about relationships, for example, and I'm pretty certain some (most?) of the solo lyric games focus on personal relationships rather than doing stuff. Was going to mention The One, it is nigh exclusively about interpersonal relationships and I found it got pretty complicated pretty fast for that reason.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 14:01
|
|
|
Here's a question for you...what systems do people usually use the Mythic GM Emulator for? Since it's a semi-logical Q/A system, it can slot in to most anything, but I think for solo gaming in particular there will be a give-take between narrative and systems. I don't think playing something like D&D solo with the GM emulator would be very satisfying. On the other end of the spectrum, a heavily narrative game like Ironsworn probably doesn't need the GM emulator except as an idea generator.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 14:28
|
|
|
Drone posted:Ironsworn can do this easily with its Bonds system (and also by swearing Vows to people and your relationship to them rather than "go to the mountain and kill the dragon" style quest vows), but it doesn't really meet the player halfway by underlining that terribly explicitly in the rules. The book itself mentions that this is a good use of a Bond/Vow a few times, but it's mostly glossed over in an effort to underscore what else Bonds could be (an attachment to a place/thing/organization, etc.) To my mind, Ironsworn is capable of creating a lot of different kinds of games but it's largely dependent on the creativity of the solo player and their willingness to engage the systems as is appropriate to the growing narrative. In that sense, the player also needs to understand the systems of the game well enough to know which moves to call for which situation. It's possible to make every character interaction in the game highly confrontational with combat moves or journey moves, but ultimately the social moves and bonds are important and help drive the dramatic narrative forward. The potential problem with a solo RPG is the player may be inclined to push the story ONLY in directions that interest them, or they may wish to move the story away from conflicts that feel too stressful or complicated to get involved in. In a real tabletop RPG these sorts of situations will necessarily arise because there are other people around the table who have characters with agency and who want to move the story in a particular way. The GM also has an agenda and input as well. In the end this collaborative storytelling experience creates something larger than the sum of its parts. To give an example from my own play of Ironsworn, my character's vow is to find a way to forge unbreakable iron, which will create tools and weapons for the village that never wear out. The initial hook was to follow-up on rumors of a mystic with unbreakable tools who will be at a great Moot of village leaders on the first day of summer. This was the part of the story I was personally interested in, and I initially wanted to start the story from the point where my character had found the mystic. However, I decided to start with the journey to the moot. I though this would be an easy task and give me a chance to understand the game systems a little before getting into the meat of the play. I decided also to add some spice by charging my character with accompanying the local village leader to the moot. The dice were not kind to me on my journey and I ended up waylaid by bandits, losing several days holing up during a violent storm, and eventually getting lost. We missed the great Moot completely and I lost my chance to meet the mystic. During all of this, the NPC was an additional complication and through the evolution of the character interactions we discovered that the NPC leader did not want to lead and did not want to journey to the moot. By the time we missed the Moot the NPC had convinced my character not to return to the village and to instead continue to pursue the mystic as a team. None of this where I initially wanted the story to go but I found the NPC/character interaction over time to really interest me. I think all of us play these games hoping to see the story move in interesting ways. In a multiplayer RPG, story movement comes from character interplay and the PCs bouncing off each other as well as the GM supplied moving parts. In a solo RPG all of the agency lies with the player, and the player needs to challenge themselves to think outside the box and perhaps let the story go in ways that don't interest them. Personally I find myself devoting a fair bit of mental energy and game time coming up with interesting twists and turns and I'd like to spend more time actually playing through the interesting twists and turns. I'd like a solo RPG to provide more of these without me spending that time and energy.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 15:00
|
|
|
Gameko posted:Here's a question for you...what systems do people usually use the Mythic GM Emulator for? Lots of D&D actually. The idea is that you use it for framing, running NPCs and so forth, then resolve the situation with your host system.
|
|
#
?
Feb 16, 2021 15:52
|
|
|
I just ordered my copy of Ironsworn which should arrive in 2-3 weeks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVxJ3exjfgI This playthrough really sold me on it and I wanna give it a try. A friend of mine is really into Viking settings for RPGs and I think he would get a kick out of it. So good how is the GM less coop mode in Ironsworn?
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2021 10:23
|
|
|
Solo Roleplaying: go play with your dog
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2021 10:57
|
|
|
Selecta84 posted:I just ordered my copy of Ironsworn which should arrive in 2-3 weeks. Probably significantly better than solo. It’s nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of. If you’re not used to narrative style games you should read up on Apocalypse World and PbtA systems. The big focus is on player agency and the moves they do shape the narrative, and thus the world. If the players don’t take an active role in the game then the engine fails. Nothing happens. Traditional RPers can get hung up on the style if they’re used to a DM spoon feeding them. Some players just don’t like it because it requires everyone to buy in to the fact that they’re creating a shared narrative and there’s nothing to stop That Guy from gaming the system. A friend of mine once described it as, “meta-gaming by the rules.”
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2021 15:06
|
|
|
Gameko posted:Probably significantly better than solo. It’s nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Thanks. My buddy is very much into shared narratives so getting him in the mood should be easy.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2021 15:14
|
|
|
Selecta84 posted:So good how is the GM less coop mode in Ironsworn? It's excellent, if you're playing with someone you gel with. One-on-one RP of any kind can be intense, and while it's less so with Ironsworn co-op because you're both looking to an invisible, imaginary third party a lot of the time, it's still not an experience you'd want to undertake with someone you're not on the same creative page with. If you do have access to someone like that, co-op Ironsworn runs beautifully. You'll develop your own style for it, but my experience was that we would essentially GM for each other's rolls, unless the person rolling had a strong desire to handle it themselves, with liberal use of the oracles (especially the Action + Theme combo) to give us that outside creative influence. Edit: Also! Highly recommend using Roll20, The Augur, or one of the Google Docs / Excel-based character sheets and campaign trackers that live on the Ironsworn subreddit. Ironsworn generates a lot of information about the world, its inhabitants, and your movements through it; in solo play, you can log all of that at your own pace, to whatever degree of detail pleases you, but in co-op you want to make that process both more efficient and easier to share. Kestral fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Feb 17, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2021 20:35
|
|
|
Kestral posted:Ironsworn stuff Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I finished reading your Bastian playthrough today and it was really entertaining and usefull for getting a feel for the game. It also convinced me to order thee Delve supplement.
|
|
#
?
Feb 17, 2021 20:54
|
|
|
Has anyone had any experience in Rangers of Shadow Deep. /pic4411239.jpg) From what I've read, it's Frostgrave the solo or co-op game. A ranger hero and some minons go off on pre-written adventures. You make your ranger, add some assistance and go explore a 3x3 size tabletop with terrain and buildings. Using a D20 and a deck of cards for events, your ranger gains experience and items.
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2021 09:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 23:13 |
|
|
aldantefax posted:I don't think it's impossible. However, if your concern is to model interactions with "the group", there ought be a delineation between the "in character" and "out of character" group. You could absolutely have a solo RPG where you are attempting to go through it and it is being influenced through the mechanics on a meta level and a narrative level. An example would be, your character is your classic party leader, and must cat herd a player type who is somewhat distracted all the time, but their character is a powerful wazzard. Perhaps there can be something there where you get mad at the player and try to smooth that out, which means you're managing meta social relationships out of the game as well as inside of the game? Bonus option: You also draw a That Player card that you don't find out what it is until halfway through that recontextualises a bunch of stuff.
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2021 13:28
|
|
